TRUCK COMPANY OPERATIONS

Where Are the Bedrooms? Get familiar with common house layouts so you can find people faster

By Peter F. Kertzie

When driving down a residential street, I often find myself glancing back and forth at the houses on either side. Why? I’m trying to guess their layout. Most of the fires I respond to are in single-family, wood-frame buildings, so I use this mental pre-planning exercise to help me figure out how to locate the bedrooms—one of the most likely places for a rescue.

Sizing Up Houses
There are a handful of basic housing configurations: ranch, Cape Cod, raised ranch, split-level, tri-level, two story, 1 ½-story and 2 ½-story. When picturing each type of house, try to figure out where you’d expect to find people when they’re most vulnerable—asleep in their bedrooms in the middle of the night. Of course, not everyone will be sound asleep in bed, but it’s a good guess. (My newspaper isn’t always tucked inside my front door in the morning, but that’s where I expect it be.)

Even if you can’t get out of the station often to do this “drive-by” pre-planning, you can try to figure out housing layouts while watching your favorite TV shows. For example, the conservative TV families of “My Three Sons” and “Leave It To Beaver” lived in two-story houses—as does the not-so-conservative Simpsons family. The Griffins on “Family Guy” live in a Cape Cod-style house with a finished second floor, “The Brady Bunch” family resided in a split-level, and the “Golden Girls” lived in a ranch (rest in peace, Bea Arthur).

If this exercise sounds too silly for you, there are certainly less fun but equally educational ways to improve your knowledge of home layouts. Grab some home plan books and flip through them, studying the different features and layouts. The more books you check out, the sooner you’ll realize that most homes fit into a handful of categories.

Another option: When houses are under construction in your district, get out and walk through them. Also, considering that new construction can be hard to come by in our current economic climate, remember to size up existing houses when possible. For example, during calls for EMS, food on the stove, CO alarms, etc., make it a point to take note of the house’s layout. You never know—you may respond to a fire at this residence someday and it helps if you know the layout.

Let’s now take a closer look at each style of house and where the bedrooms are likely located in each. Keep in mind that any of these designs can be rotated on their lot, changing front to side, side to
rear, rear to front, so on and so fourth.

Ranch (“Rancher”)
The first ranch home is believed to have been built in San Diego in 1932. A standard ranch-style home is one-story, and most have an attached garage. Upon entering the house on the driveway side, I can expect to find a hallway that leads to a kitchen, dining room and/or living room area. The stairs to a basement or cellar would probably be in this area, too.

The front door usually opens to a living or dining room. Additionally, I would expect to find a hall leading to a group of bedrooms and one or more baths. The hall would probably run down the center with rooms on each side—usually three or four total.

I wish there were more to write about ranch-style homes, but they’re pretty simple; however, a modern ranch may have a separate master bedroom suite. Whether it’s 900 square feet or 3,000 square feet, I would expect to find what I just described.

Raised Ranch, Split-Level & Tri-Level
Raised ranch, split-level and tri-level homes share many features and are often confused with each other.

Raised Ranch: A raised ranch has a similar floor plan as a rancher, often appearing like a ranch house that has been raised upward. There are two levels, and the front door is positioned slightly above the lower windows and below the upper windows. Inside the front door is a landing that leads up a flight of stairs to the functional areas (living room, dining room and kitchen) on one side and the bedrooms on the other side, and another set of stairs that lead to the lower area.

The lower floor usually includes a “basement” on one side and a garage on the other. The bedrooms are normally above the garage. The door that leads to the garage would likely be inside the house, near the front door.

Split-Level: The split-level is similar to the raised ranch, except the functional areas are usually on a different level than the bedrooms. There’s a one-story side of the house and a two-story side, and the floor level of the two-story side of the house is about halfway between the floor and the ceiling of the one-story side of the house.
The one-story section includes the family room, living room, dining room and kitchen under which we will find a basement or crawlspace. The lower level of the two-story side usually includes a garage area and possibly family room area, and the bedrooms are located on the upper level.

Tri-Level: The tri-level is a split-level house with another habitable section added over the functional area. The different levels can be a bit confusing even when they’re not on fire, so become familiar with these layouts if you have any in your district.

2-Story & 2 ½-Story
For a 2-story and a 2 ½-story, single-family house, I would expect the functional areas like the kitchen, living room and dining room to be on the first floor. I also expect to find a side entrance into a hall or mudroom and a front entrance into a foyer or directly into a living room. The stairs may be visible from the front door and, if there’s a basement, I would expect it to be on the opposite side of the stairs to the second floor. At the top of the stairs, I would expect to find the bedrooms—and a bathroom or two, of course.

In 2 ½-story, single-family homes, the attics are oftentimes unfinished. To determine if the attic is finished, look for a fire escape, skylights, lights on or the appearance of finished space; these clues will help us determine if the top floor is occupied.

Cape Cod & 1-½ Story
The name “Cape Cod” is a pretty name for what I may call a “story and a half.” There can be some differences, though. It could be said that all Cape Cods are 1 ½ stories, but not all 1 ½-stories are Cape Cods.

Cape Cods are similar to ranchers with the addition of a stairway located inside the front door like a 2-story house. One floor can house both the functional areas and a couple of bedrooms while the second floor may be unfinished or contain a couple bedrooms.

These homes gained popularity in the late 40s, when the Levitt and Sons building company started Levittown on Long Island. The basic house was a first floor divided into a kitchen/dining room/living room on one side and bedrooms on the other. A stairway to an unfinished second half floor was located inside the front door. Bedrooms were added to the second floor as budgets and/or family size dictated. Bedrooms may be deleted from the first floor as they are added to the second floor. We won’t really know where the bedrooms are located in these homes until we check during our search.

In Buffalo, the standard 1 ½-story is long and thin with bedrooms on one side directly connected to the kitchen/dining room/living room on the other side in older versions. In later versions, I would expect the kitchen/dining room/living room to be in the front and the bedrooms in the rear off a small hallway. As in a “Cape Cod,” the 1 ½-normally has one floor of living space and a stairway to a full-sized attic that may be finished and used as habitable space or unfinished. I normally assume that the “half” of a 1 ½-story is occupied and finished.

Final Thoughts
The basic layouts described here should cover what most of us will encounter in residential, single-family, wood-frame neighborhoods. There will be exceptions to this, of course, but this information is good to have when rolling up to a fire. Part of our job is knowing where we can expect to find the people we’ve promised to protect. So as you move around your districts, take a look around at the homes that line your streets and ask yourself, “If I had to roll up on this tonight, do I know where the people sleep?”

Peter F. Kertzie is a 20-year veteran of the Buffalo (N.Y.) Fire Department. He is currently serving as a battalion chief and was formerly a lieutenant and captain at Truck-14. He is a New York State-certified Municipal Fire Training Officer and holds a bachelor’s degree in business and an associate’s degree in fire-protection technology.